Volume 6 Chapter 308: Hidden Dangers by the Forest of Needham Lake
Translator: The Light
Edits by Lord Immortal
In Olsylvia City, the Forest of Needham Lake, the girls of Olsylvia Academy’s magic branch were undergoing magic practicals. Magic practicals were pretty much the same as an ordinary outing. Their locations were normally absent of powerful demonic beasts.
Due to the interference of a certain noble, Bella and Professor Catalina’s bet was temporarily on hold. Catalina was busy thinking up a new way to compete at this moment. Lost in thought, she didn’t realize that Bella had led her by the hand for quite a while. The transfer order from Great Magister Orlando was probably genuine. If he pressured the magic branch, she herself would have to go.
“Ariel, do you know Spirit Magic?”
“Yes... But I can’t reveal it. I’m not afraid of Orlando’s Spirit magic, but girls like my sister, Princess Effie, are vulnerable. I can give you a common artifact that can be used to counter Spirit Magic.”
In the short period when no one else was paying them any attention, Bella and Ariel had a quick discussion. Ariel retrieved several magic artifacts from her spatial ring and secretly gave them to Bella.
Bella and Ariel were walking side by side and hand in hand. Princess Effie and Princess Eveny were confused by why Bella was walking with her ugly little sister. Right as Eveny was about to ask Bella about her reasons, she was pulled back by Effie.
Observing the pair carefully, Princess Effie had noticed that Ariel was more relaxed around Bella and that her hand was revealed. Ariel’s tender, pale hand definitely didn’t belong to an ugly princess. It was even more beautiful than her own. Maybe, she didn’t know as much as she thought she did about Princess Ariel?
The demonic beasts in the Needham Lake Forest were low-ranked, D-grade at best. Although they still posed a danger to ordinary people, it was almost harmless to the average magic student. Furthermore, the monsters were all wood-types; a single fireball would wipe out an entire pack.
In Bella’s Magic Class 1, six students were also members of the Eight Chapters, namely “First Chapter of the Sky” Princess Eveny, “Divine Second Chapter” President Lucia, “Third Chapter of Taboo” Princess Effie, “Fourth Chapter of the Deep Blue” Sylvia, “Scarlet Red Fifth Chapter” Serena, and “Invisible Seventh Chapter” Anna Rosa. Their teacher was the substitute, Supreme Magic Mentor Catalina.
In addition, Ariel, who kept her real power a secret, was also present, and she was the strongest mage of the class. With their composition, they could easily fight through the highest-grade magic practical locations.
However, Bella was too cautious to take risks like that. She felt that the demons and monsters of this world had come straight out of a hentai studio: They were obsessed with women. Despite these girl’s powers, an Improved Sticky Slime demon from Angus city could have wiped out a group of a dozen high-level valkyries.
Bella also knew a bit of magic, but it was primarily demon king magic and darkness magic. However, she only needed to prove that she could use magic. Hence, a dozen or so beautiful girls leisurely explored the forest of Needham Lake.
“Bella, I think we should go back first. Our practical is basically...”
“Professor, back up... There’s danger...”
Right as Catalina decided to return, a strange shadow appeared out of nowhere and pounced toward her. It was a demon, not a demonic beast. It’s distinctive aura allowed Bella to instantly recognize it. With a flying kick, she landed a direct blow on the demon’s body, sending it flying far into the distance.
However, the demon was unharmed. Bella felt as if she had kicked a ball of sticky resin. It was the same feeling as when she had patted Abyss Demon King Slime’s body in the past.
The girls finally saw the demon’s true appearance. It looked as if it was a black ball made of some kind of viscous liquid. Even from its current distance, Bella could sense its evil aura.
Just by its appearance, the demon wasn’t a benevolent one. Earlier when it had attacked, it was initially aiming for Bella but changed its mind at the last second. Detecting a trace of Abyssal in Bella’s aura, it tried to avoid friendly fire.
“That’s not a demonic beast. Hold on!”
“Wait... We can’t fight...”
Bella and Ariel shouted at almost the same time. However, the girls of the class, as well as Catalina, reflexively attacked with magic. An enormous wave of magic blasted toward the ball-like demon. The impact of all the various types of magic exploded it in an instant, sending a spray of viscous liquid everywhere.
Bella blocked in front of Ariel, shielding her from the sticky liquid. As for herself, she wasn’t so lucky, covered from head to toe in the fluid. A couple of the other girls reacted quickly, shielding themselves with magic before the potentially poisonous liquid could touch them.
However, a shocking scene occurred. The rain of sticky liquid completely ignored the magic shields. Even President Lucia’s light magic shield was bypassed, and all the girls were soaked.
Catalina was a space-time mage. Had she used a space-time magic shield, she could have avoided the incoming rain. However, she had underestimated the demon after seeing it explode from a single round of attacks.
Catalina had instead used a low-powered thunder magic shield and suffered the same fate as the other girls. This demon wasn’t simple. It was a powerful mutated slime of the Abyssal Slime family, a Slime Hunterâ??a forbidden species of slime formed from the mutation and combination of the sticky slime that Bella used and another type of slime.
“This is... My strength...”
“Professor Catalina... My magic... I can’t use it.”
Although the girls’ clothes hadn’t dissolved from the Slime Hunter’s liquid, their magic was temporarily sealed. Even Catalina was powerless. If a mage couldn’t use magic, their battle power would be worse than an ordinary human footsoldier. And these girls were even shoddier!
The slimy liquid, on top of temporarily sealing magic, was much heavier than water, increasing the weight of anyone struck by the liquid. If they wanted to quickly escape, they would have to strip naked.
The scattered form of the Slime Hunter gradually reformed into hundreds of translucent, human-shaped slimes. Right as Ariel was hesitating whether or not to reveal her power, Bella stood up. The extra weight from the slime wasn’t enough to keep her down.
“Bella... you... It’s immune to fire magic... Oh? You’re using darkness magic!”
Catalina was shocked when she saw a black energy ball form in Bella’s right hand. The purity of that dark magic was even higher than Effie’s. The mass of slimes seemed to be afraid of the ball in Bella’s hands and paused. The scene entered a tense stalemate.
Bella wasn’t using beginner magic but a modified version of a Demon King’s signature “Dark Wave”. The slime could detect a trace of divine aura within Bella’s magic, which was why it was afraid to attack. Although it wasn’t that vulnerable to “Dark Wave”, the Demon God aura contained within was lethal to it.
Catalina didn’t notice anything in the heat of the moment, but if she had been paying more attention, she might have noticed the hidden demon king aura within Bella’s magic. Catalina discovered that her body was too heavy to move, and like the students of Magic Class 1, she struggled limply on the ground.
Besides Bella, the only other girl still on her feet was Ariel. She stood with a strange sense of calmness. The battle couldn’t remain in a stalemate forever; Bella decided to retreat. Although these Slime Hunters were weak, they would often be working together with a stronger Abyssal Demon. The Slime Hunter would restrict their prey before their partnered demon moved in to finish the job.
The Slime Hunter Demon’s accomplice hadn’t appeared yet, though it looked as if it would reveal itself soon. The thirty or so girls of Magic Class 1, without their magic, were just a bunch of burdens. While they hadn’t panicked yet, it would be better for them to escape while everyone still had some strength left.
“Professor Catalina, that demon... That demon is waiting for its partner to show up. Quick, run away!”
“But our clothes are soaked with this sticky fluid; it’s too heavy. We can’t...”
“Just take them off, and there won’t be a problem... Ariel, you’re in charge of helping them strip...”
Bella’s words stupefied the class. It was the middle of the day, and it would be embarrassing to be caught running around naked! Even if they were all girls, “streaking” together was a bit too much.
In this situation, they needed a “role model” to lead the way. Taking such a drastic measure would be much easier if someone well known took the lead. Fortunately, Bella had several girlfriends in the class that had a strong “pull”. She motioned at her girls.
The girlsâ??Lucia, Eveny, and Effieâ??all began undressing. Under the leadership of these members of the “Eight Chapters”, the rest of the class started to reluctantly strip themselves. Ariel helped them take off every article of clothing.
After removing their clothes, the girls instantly felt their bodies lighten. Unfortunately, they still couldn’t use their magic. However, Catalina didn’t make a move. Her face was flushed red, and she looked extremely reluctant to strip.
Catalina felt that as a teacher, how could she just randomly take off all her clothes? If she was seen by somebody, her reputation would be destroyed. However, Bella was staring right at her. The other girls had already undressed; how could she allow a special case?
“Professor Catalina, why are you still clothed? Hurry up and strip like everyone else!”
“Yeah! Big Sis Catalina, as Princesses, we order you to strip. Everyone, hurry up and follow me...”
“Wait a second, I’m your teacher! Stop, you bunch of little girls... Stop randomly touching; I’ll do it myself... Wait!”
Catalina was held down by several beautiful girls. Without her magic, she was only a couple years older than them, and their physical strength was about the same. There was no way for her to hold off so many “intruders”. And so, she was stripped naked.
Catalina no longer appeared as harsh as she used to. At least, after her class removed her clothes, her shy expression awakened a special sort of excitement within Bella. Princess Eveny and Princess Effie flanked Catalina, each taking a hand. With their status as princesses, they wouldn’t be punished later for their actions.
With Ariel leading the way, the thirty-plus girls of Magic Class 1 retreated in the opposite direction they came from, away from the teleportation array on the south side of Needham Lake. That was because Magic Class 3 was currently playing there; they couldn’t expose themselves to them. There were over 60 males in that class, double of Magic Class 1’s total numbers.
Olsylvia Academy’s magic branch was split into three classes that were divided by year. Magic Class 1 was composed of first- and second-year students. It just so happened that these students were exceptionally talented, with all of the “Eight Chapters” being either first- or second-year students.
The Slime Hunter tried to pursue the retreating girls several times, but was it held in check by the threat of Bella’s “Dark Pulse”. Right as it was about to attack, Bella’s reinforcements arrived. Abyss Demonic King Skyrme descended from the sky with his slime underlings.
They had been launched from a trebuchet on top of the Hausmann Hotel. As soon as they landed, slimes from both sides became embroiled in bitter combat, resulting in a chaotic battleground. The Slime Hunters’ human form dropped back into viscous blobs that entangled with the incoming slimes. Bella made a hand sign toward Skyrme before dismissing the “Dark Pulse” and following after Ariel and the rest of the class.
Battles between slime monsters took an enormous amount of time. Both sides were unkillable beings of sticky liquid. Yet, the Slime Hunter’s partner hadn’t shown up. This led Bella to believe that it might have been summoned by a human.
Ariel and the others were following a river behind an enormous rock formation. They used the shadow of the rock to conceal the fact that they were all completely naked. In fact, Princess Ariel was the only one with any clothing. She wore a gray cloak, which concealed her true appearance.
Since many of the girls had heard rumors of how ugly Ariel was, they didn’t object that she hadn’t stripped like the rest of them. The only one regretful at her clothed state was Effie. She had wanted to confirm whether or not the rumor was true.
“Eh... What happened to you girls? This... Professor Catalina, what are you teaching?”
“Wait... Bella, don’t misunderstand. It... It isn’t what you’re thinking. Hurry and help us! We can’t keep going like this!”
When Bella rounded the rock, she discovered Catalina on the ground, hands pinned on either side by Eveny and Effie, with Lucia sitting on her closed legs. Although the scene was easy to misunderstand, nothing untoward had happened. Catalina simply wanted to scout ahead by herself, but the other girls were afraid that she would run off without them, so they had held her back.
“I... I’m the same as you all... Professor Catalina, I suspect that the Slime Hunter was summoned by someone to attack us. We can’t rely on the academy. Don’t you have a peer in the next class over? I can sneak over and ask for her help!”
“You... You’re naked too... How could you sneak over? Anna Rosa knows invisibility magic, but she can’t use it right now!”
“I have an idea. Ariel, I’ll leave things here to you. Professor, do you have anything with you that can prove your identity?”
Catalina gave Bella a worried glance. Bella had taken her clothes off on the way over. Or else, the Slime Hunter liquid would’ve gotten heavier and heavier. Even if she was a knight, she couldn’t walk under that much weight.
As soon as Bella left the others’ sight, she retrieved her invisibility suit from her spatial ring. After she put it on, Bella set out. On this outing, she hadn’t brought any extra clothes in her ring. She planned to infiltrate Magic Class 3 and steal a couple sets of clothes before continuing with her plan.
Even though others couldn’t see her, Bella didn’t like being naked under the invisibility suit. She felt uncomfortable, although she was invisible.